Coronavirus in Scotland: Gretna Green wedding venues closed due to stricter lockdown

Gretna Green Ltd, one of Scotland's most popular wedding venues, has announced the temporary closure of all its facilities as a result of the latest lockdown measures from the Scottish Government

Gretna Green Ltd announces the closure of their wedding venues.

Small ceremonies are still permitted but the company has decided to postpone all January weddings.

The temporary closure affects the Smiths and Gretna Hall hotels.

The company located on the Scottish border had previously closed their popular Blacksmiths Shop Retail and Visitor Attraction.

In a statement issued today, the ‘Gretna Green Team’ said it is with a ‘tremendously heavy heart’ that they announce the further closures.

The Gretna Green Team wrote: “While Scottish Government guidelines do allow us to continue to both conduct weddings and provide accommodation for wedding couples and their guests - albeit with new, reduced numbers - we feel a strong social responsibility to protect our colleagues, customers and our community.

“Our wedding team are working with all our couples, individually, to move their weddings to a safer date in the future and offering our full support throughout this difficult situation and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind messages, comments and understanding over the past 9 months.”

Alasdair Houston, who runs Gretna Green Ltd, told the BBC they had no choice but to make the move.

Mr Houston said it was "really demoralising" but it was "what had to be done".

He commented that the decision would be in place for the month of January at least but would be in "constant review".

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